A Better Bounce Card....

[petedam]

Just would like to know if anyone uses this product and your opinion on it.

It's a product by Peter Gregg.

http://www.abetterbouncecard.com/

Thanks!

[wdwpsu]

It's definitely a good concept. Although you can recreate it with $3 and a trip to Michael's/Joann's.

[petedam]

Good enough.....just wanted to see how well it works before deciding to build one or not. :)

[golfingguy27]

I was just looking at bounce cards earlier today. I really like the design on the "A Better Bounce Cards", but find it hard to spend so much money on something so simple looking. What are they made of? What is the suggestion to buy from Michael's/Joann's? I was thinking of making one from some white foam I have, although the thought also crossed my mind to try and make something more flexible that wouldn't be damaged if it got "crunched" somewhere.

[petedam]

I actually went to Michael's today and bought what they call "FOAM STICKY SHEET" I bought a black one and a white one stuck them together and voila I got myself a bounce card. Just shape them to your desire. :)

BTW it cost me $3.50 and gas and a little bit of my time. :D

[rang]

I keep a black one and a white one/with one side a wide sticky back soft Velcro strip up the middle made from Michaels foam sheet in every Think Tank Flash carrier I have. Cheap, flexible, works in a pinch when you don't want to carry around bigger, heavier light modifiers (Fongs, Lumiquests Honels etc. etc.)

[p360]

I actually went to Michael's today and bought what they call "FOAM STICKY SHEET" I bought a black one and a white one stuck them together and voila I got myself a bounce card. Just shape them to your desire. :)

BTW it cost me $3.50 and gas and a little bit of my time. :D


And how do you mount it to your flash? Can you provide any visuals..?

Thanks in advance.

[cchooks]

I went with the 3 buck deal and wasn't getting enough lighting in the eyes so I went to the Joe Demb system http://www.dembflashproducts.com/ and have not looked back since. I have shot in major churches with super high ceilings an huge groups and it has worked great. I recommend it.

David

[mjadse]

I just bought abetterbouncecard and I really like it. Yes, you can definitely make it yourself but Peter Gregg's is very clean and nice so if you are not handy and you don't mind spending the money, you get one already made and fused together with a strap. I think it looks OK on the camera. I used it for the first time at a wedding last week and I pretty much kept it on the camera (except during ceremony.)

I bought the Big-Light, but at times, it was a little much (still had a little shine on faces) so I'd probably get the Ultimate.

[Regalpix]

I have the ultimate, and it was worth the small investment. You could easily make it, and Peter gives directions on how to make them. Just easier for me to order a couple.

Find them very useful, gives nice control over shaping and bending the light.

[petedam]

And how do you mount it to your flash? Can you provide any visuals..?

Thanks in advance.


I just use an elastic band (He uses Velcro which one could too) and mount it the same way as he does it.

http://www.abetterbouncecard.com/

Hope that helps.:D But if you really want to I can put up some pics.

[petedam]

I have the ultimate, and it was worth the small investment. You could easily make it, and Peter gives directions on how to make them. Just easier for me to order a couple.

Find them very useful, gives nice control over shaping and bending the light.


It's easier to just order but I couldn't justify spending the money if I can make one. :D (call me cheap) :D

[DennisW1]

Just would like to know if anyone uses this product and your opinion on it.

It's a product by Peter Gregg.

http://www.abetterbouncecard.com/

Thanks!


Just about every one of these "bounce card" devices I've seen sold are so way overpriced that I sometimes wonder why I haven't jumped on the bandwagon and come up with something similar to sell and make money from.
Before the market became over-saturated with these light modifiers, photographers used indec cards and a rubber band to create a bounce card, more creative and inventive ones found larger pieces of white cardboard and cut them to various shapes and sizes, velcro was substituted in place of the trusty rubber band in some cases, and quite honestly I think those crude devices worked as well as most of the high-tech, nifty looking gadgets we see being used to day.

[p360]

I went with the 3 buck deal and wasn't getting enough lighting in the eyes so I went to the Joe Demb system http://www.dembflashproducts.com/ and have not looked back since. I have shot in major churches with super high ceilings an huge groups and it has worked great. I recommend it.

David


Looks pretty good to me. Just ordered one Mega Flip-it. Looking forward to using it during a wedding I am shooting in two weeks.

[cchooks]

Good show Prat, let me know if you need any direction. Joe sends them right out so be looking for it really soon.

David

[Mhappy]

I'm going to check out the Michaels near me and see if they carry the Foam Sticky Sheet!!
Thanks!!! :D

[Limitless]

I would make sense and not to rain on anyone on the forums parade if they have a product out. But to have a tuturial on creating one to begin with.

[Shooting]

Does anyone know where I can get the kind of elastic band he uses? Someone said to get a bicycle tube but I can't find one that will stretch open enough to go over the 580exII flash head. He charges $15 each for his and he said he cannot tell me where I can get one. Right now I'm using just a black rubber band but it is not very wide.

[digirebelva]

I too have looked for one, one suggestion was (if you can find them) is the friendship bands that some c-stores sell..they are elastic and have a (supposedly) decent width..
all of mine (have 4) have velcro..

[Shooting]

I too have looked for one, one suggestion was (if you can find them) is the friendship bands that some c-stores sell..they are elastic and have a (supposedly) decent width..
all of mine (have 4) have velcro..

yeah but they are not wide enough and I want to try to stay away from velcro, just doesn't get tight enough as a wide rubber band..it stretches and grips, velcro overlaps and at the overlapping point there is not enough grip to keep the card steady enough.

I can't believe office supply stores doesn't sell wide rubber bands.

[Peacefield]

I might be misunderstanding the velcro strap, but I've simply attached velcro directly to the flash head (both the top and one side) as well as my bounce card, which in my case is a large (maybe 5x7?) sheet of heavy white styrene plastic. The card is always held securely in place and I can quickly change its orientation from portrait to landscape. I used to use regular index cards and rubberbands and this set up has been so much better and faster for me.

[snakeman55]

Just to add my .02

I have the regular sized one and the super big one for outside/high ceilings and I love them. I made one first, and used it so much I just bought them.

I highly recommend it.

[PicBug]

I just made two of my own Better Bounce Cards, the small and medium. I'm still new to flash, but on my experiments, I liked the results with the smaller one the best. I will be doing a wedding soon.

I made mine with the white sticky-backed craft foam from Michaels too. White on one side and black on the other. After you stick the pieces together you have to let the "glue" set for a bit or they might peel away while you work with it. I threaded a piece of double -sided velcro strapping through the bottom narrow part to secure it to my flash. Looks pro, is cheap, and does the job!

I really don't think I'll be using the stoffen omni-bounce thing much.

[Peter Gregg]

Nice to see you all doing well with the ABBC stuff :)

I have gone out of my way to teach how to make the A Better Bounce Card so anyone can make better flash pictures. All, and I mean ALL the flash diffusers operate the same and give the same or at least similar results. It just comes down to what you personally want to put on the top of your flash units.

As for the pricing, whether you put a piece of chip-board on a velcro band like the Flip-it, or use a little chunk of plastic to press out a Lightsphere, the biggest expense of any products are the labor, the start up costs and just of running a business.

The Lightsphere costs all of $2.00 to make. I am talking with the same injection mold company that made them with my own new flash diffuser that will be coming to market soon. The trouble is the injection mold itself is over $10,000. That really effects the sales price - plus just the cost of running a web site and business.

The ABBC is super simple to make. i used to use a simple 3x5 index card and a rubber band way back in the day :) Today, I have them die cut and assembled by a manufacturing company and they actually cost me more that it cost wholesale for the Lightspheres that Gary Fong sells.

So part of doing any kind of sales is the behind the scenes costs. Anyone can run down to Walmart or Michaels and buy a sheet of foam paper. In fact, I love it when you do that because I KNOW you are going to be making better flash pictures - and that is something I like :)

As for the Attachment Bands, I apologize for the cost on that. They are a custom order and I need to order a minimum or hundreds of dollars of product before they will even talk to me. I no longer use them as I have switched over to a velcro belt and am not reordering them again. Whatever is left is what I can sell until they are all gone. The velcro straps are really better because if you put them on just right, the ABBC can be secure AND also pull off and be put back on without ever opening the belt after putting it on the first time. Plus there is nothing that gets glued to your flash so it stays clean like brand new.

If I can sell enough of the Big-Light Flash Diffusers i can get the manufacturer to lower the price enough so I can sell them for $19.99. That is what the price should really be. But I don't have enough sales volume to do that so I pay more until I can get them into stores. I am kind of scared to lower the price and then wind up in the hole at the end of the month if the volume doesn't come in :)

The main thing with the ABBC (and all the diffusers) is don't be high ISO phobic. All the newer cameras easily operate at ISO 1600 for prints up to 16x20 or 16x24. Opening up the ISO allows the natural light to mix with the flash so your pictures look more alive. If you are scared of high ISO I make this simple recommendation everywhere I go. Take one of you ISO 1600 images and PRINT that at Costco at 12x18 or even at 16x20. Then you will not need me to tell you or convince you otherwise, you will be holding the "evidence" in your own hands :)

What makes the ABBC different is simple. The weight is almost nothing (about an ounce), the light matches or exceeds what all the other flash diffusers do, there is no "rear" firing light to blind the folks standing around you, and the unit looks professional and "built-in - not attracting a lot of attention to itself. Other than that, you can use ANY method to soften your flash output to get those delicious looking pictures :)

Peter

[DStanic]

Have any of you tried making your own B.B.C. like off the youtube video? Using photopaper, it's basically free and I've had good results.

[petedam]

Have any of you tried making your own B.B.C. like off the youtube video? Using photopaper, it's basically free and I've had good results.

Link?

[DStanic]

Link?

All sorts in youtube, quick search: http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=better+bounce+card&aq=f

The guy in the videos with the red shirt...

[petedam]

All sorts in youtube, quick search: http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=better+bounce+card&aq=f

The guy in the videos with the red shirt...

thanks...the part that confuses me was when you said photopaper. I think he uses the sticky foam paper. That's the kind that i use and I got it from Michaels.

[digirebelva]

I prefer the foam over paper..I put a stiffner (plastic cross-stitch material) in between the 2 foams for added support...plus I can customize them...I have 1 that allows me to go from flat to a bowl shape with velcro tabs...I tried the paper in the beginning, just not a fan of attaching velcro to my equipment..;)

[Shooting]

I went to a local hobby shop and bought the foam paper for .39 cents a sheet then a $1.00 can of black spray paint and painted one side for the black back.

[petedam]

I went to a local hobby shop and bought the foam paper for .39 cents a sheet then a $1.00 can of black spray paint and painted one side for the black back.

If you get the one that as sticky back you can get one black and one white and stick them together. Its a little sturdier. :) I actually put a piece of tin that's used for heating ducts and stick it between the two sheets so I n shape them to my liking.:D

[Shooting]

If you get the one that as sticky back you can get one black and one white and stick them together. Its a little sturdier. :) I actually put a piece of tin that's used for heating ducts and stick it between the two sheets so I n shape them to my liking.:D

Sounds good..and you say I can get them at Michaels? I'll have to make a run up there and see what I can find.

[IUnknown]

http://neilvn.com/tangents/2007/12/13/my-choice-of-flash-modifiers/

[sctbiggs]

black hair tie, pack of 10 for $1... and solid white index card, pack of 100 for $1. works for me.

[Shooting]

black hair tie, pack of 10 for $1... and solid white index card, pack of 100 for $1. works for me.

index card though is too small to get much distance when shooting a group of 7 or more..at least it is to me. Plus I'd like something that covers the bottom of the card not have anything sticking out..

[petedam]

Does anyone know where I can get the kind of elastic band he uses? Someone said to get a bicycle tube but I can't find one that will stretch open enough to go over the 580exII flash head. He charges $15 each for his and he said he cannot tell me where I can get one. Right now I'm using just a black rubber band but it is not very wide.

Elastic band that's used for pants would work.

[Shooting]

Elastic band that's used for pants would work.

But are they wide enough and do they come in black?

[cdifoto]

But are they wide enough and do they come in black?
I have 2" black elastic. Got it from a fabric store.

[petedam]

I have 2" black elastic. Got it from a fabric store.

same here! :)

[amwolf2]

What mode do I use on my flash with a bounce card?? thanks!

[jaycky]

dayummmmmm im heading to micheals without my gf

[digirebelva]

What mode do I use on my flash with a bounce card?? thanks!

You have more control in manual..
tip...your mileage may vary but you may need to bump up your flash compensation by +1